Another 900 offshore jobs go in Norway

National Oilwell Varco, an American offshore equipment manufacturer, is slashing another 900 jobs at its bases in Norway. NOV has factories in Søgne west of Kristiansand and Hjelset outside Molde. The 900 job losses add to 1,500 cuts NOV had announced in Norway earlier this year. NOV’s workforce in Norway will have halved by the end of this year.

Houston-head NOV is a drilling technology firm and specialist in offshore cranes. It acquired Norway’s Hydralift 13 years ago.

Norway has been especially hard hit by the drop in global oil prices this year with more than 20,000 Norwegian oil and gas staff axed in 2015. Globally, more than 250,000 offshore-related redunandacies have been announced this year.

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.